General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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Thinking hypothetically, person A is taking a paragliding course over the course of a year in three stages. The first two are about mastering ground handling, taking off, basic landing, different a...
My daughter and I were going to hike the AT through Maryland. She goes to school there and really wanted to do a muli-day hike. We recently gave up on the idea b/c the logistics of the end to end...
Once in Nevada, I saw a sign on an old abandoned mine that said two things, Stay out, mines have noxious fumes. Stay out, bats live here. Both of those are good reasons to stay out, but it seem...
I know that goose down is warmer than cattail down. But what are the R-values of each? How much warmer is the same weight/volume of goose down compared to cattail down? Is cattail down better than ...
I have a Marmot Limelight tent that the see-through window needs reglued around the edge onto the tent. Is there a common household glue that can be used for this? And what is the best glue and/ or...
I've been using various map apps with offline storage on my smartphone(s) for several years now. The main problem with them is the battery drain. I've searched for e-ink devices with GPS but only f...
I'm in the process of setting up my overland vehicle so that it has "essentials" in it at all times. I've got a kettle and ways to boil the kettle etc. I am interested in having the basics in my v...
Inspired by several questions and answers here and also one at Biology SE, I have been looking around to try to find out whether this idea I heard constantly as a youth has any merit, or it just fo...
There are several higher altitude forested areas that I go hiking that have burned this summer and I am wondering about how they will be next summer. Dead trees falling on you is always a concern w...
The baskets on trekking poles are very useful while hiking through snow, however, they have a tendency to break. How would one improvise a fix in the outdoors for this?
I have a bug house and it looks as if several insects have laid in the house over the spring/summer. All of the bamboo seems to be clogged up and has been for a couple of months. Are there still i...
If you had no sunburn cream, would it work to cover your exposed skin in mud and gunk as a crude way to prevent sunburn? I have never tried it. I have tried using paper tissues on my face as a sun ...
I'm looking for a decent source to know winter road conditions for various Adirondacks access roads. First level of interest would be just what is or isn't being maintained. A better yet answer w...
I have a stand up paddle board (14'0") and I am looking for an easier way to pump it up. I found some cordless handheld inflators for tyres, which are rated at 120W and maximum pressure is 150psi. ...
I am a long time gym climber, and I climbed outdoors for a couple of times. I fail to understand why climbing outdoors is more appealing than climbing indoors. If the goal is to climb harder, whi...
Some of my climber friends are pretty fast climbers with a speed of about 20s for a 10m long route. The really fast ones use auto-belaying-systems seen on speed climbing competitions. Those auto-...
My knees aren’t in the best shape, one in particular. I had a rather devastating 13 hour up-and-down hike on day two of a three day hike, and the last day my knees were hurting every step. What are...
A U.S. wilderness area prohibits road-building and other forms of development. Are bridges on hiking trail permitted, or are all river crossings in wilderness areas necessarily unbridged?
Say, I want to tie a rope between two trees, and I want it to have as little sag as possible. I have attached the rope to one tree and I'm trying to tie it to the other tree while pulling it to cre...
I was given a St. Croix Avid AS60MLF, and I have no idea why this top guide is on the opposite side. The rest of the guides are on the same side as the lower one in the picture. Only the top one ...
If one were to get started fly fishing what gear would one need just to start with? Of course, there is all sorts of gear and better gear, but what would the minimum gear to start with be?
I will go for two day hiking on a mountain (intermediate level). The weather will be chilling (3 °C to 5 °C, no snowing,but it may rain). I would like to know what kind of clothing would be better?...
A comment on recent answer suggests that kernmantle ropes are more easily damaged than a conventional twisted rope. This is contrary to what I learned very long ago. So far I've been unable to f...
Sometimes when fly fishing in canyons the wind will start coming down the canyon and it makes it that much harder to cast. It doesn't take a whole lot of wind to completely stop one from further fi...
United States (and more, specifically, NY state -- though that shouldn't matter at all) here. I am brand new to hunting, and in a few weeks I will be going out into the woods and hunting public ...
I am looking to get a spinning 22lr target, the fun thing about these is that if you hit them the target spins and then resets so it's very clear that you either hit or missed. There are all diffe...
I know that hundreds of black bears roam around Yosemite, however they are considered harmless and an attack towards humans has not been reported so far. However, are there any other possible dange...
I live in a downtown urban center. Normally I exercise by going to the gym or by taking long walks around the different neighborhoods or some local hiking trails in parks. Current social distancin...
I have an issue with excessive sweat in my feet, and separately I have noticed my shoes no matter the quality, function or use-profile do not last more than a year, often less. It's been suggested...
When hiking in Israel I've seen some trails that had information on them to contact IDF first for permission before going on them. How I'm supposed to get the permission? How much in advance you h...
My friend and I are planning to go camping for three days next week. Since it's winter here in the US, we're targeting the south east side (FL, SC, etc.) I am looking for suggestions on camping sit...
I noticed one of the eyelets on one of my hiking boots is very worn. The lace was fraying at the point of the worn eyelet, so I have put new laces in. However it does not look like the eyelet will ...
I have a subscription service from komoot for maps. Is there any GPS device that supports offline maps and GPX, preferably with android OS integration. Example scenario would be: Use an android bas...
How do I get rid of bad smell of mountaineering boots / skiing boots which comes from sweaty feet? I know the best way is preventing that smell by putting them in a ventilated area, but sometimes ...
I will go to rural areas in Madagascar and have an Inmarsat satellite phone. Does anyone know which number I can dial with this phone in an emergency? I already know that 117 is the local emergenc...
I am planning to spend about a week in Italian/Swiss border Alps in late October. The base plan is to hire a 4WD and drive along the border slowly, stopping a lot for less-than-a-day hikes (staying...
Where I live, we are about to get a bunch of snow (5”-8”). This has brought about the question of which is more dangerous an icy road or an icy road with snow? Does the snow help traction on the ic...
I am planning a long bike and canoe trip (bike tows canoe, canoe carries bike and cart), There are a couple of purpose built products for towing a canoe with a bike dumb stick & woody hitch but...
I am going hiking for 2-3 weeks with no possibility of charging the battery again. Assuming I only turn the InReach on only once a day to send a "I'm ok"-message and then turn it off again, would t...
The sole of my trekking boots get separated from the boot body. Since the boots would be otherwise usable - they are more than ten years old but without much use - repairing them would be an option...
There are some 15ft tall shrubs/trees that have these purple and reddish of berries. The trees seem to be either 15ft tall or 3ft and they are growing next to a trail. The tree wood is a greyish br...
I purchased a sock filled with thistle and a large bag of bulk thistle from the same store. The sock is hung and the bulk thistle is in a feeder, but the birds don't eat from either. Is there any...
With modern high strength, small diameter lines, spinning and bait casting reels can hold a tremendous amount of line. I usually spool up about half capacity with an inexpensive monofilament then f...
I plan to go on a hike with someone allergic to latex. Usually I would pack small plasters and leukotape, but this is not an option in this case. How can I replace these items with latex-free equ...
I've just recently moved to Europe (southern Germany), so this might be a common sight to someone who has been living here for longer. Yesterday I noticed dozens of these insects walking on the si...
I've been looking into learning how to mountaineer and noticed that the local mountaineering society still requires a training in navigation as part of the prerequisites for most of their basic cou...
I am not sure if this question fits here but since I like to travel and often face difficulties because of different weather conditions in different cities/countries so, I am hoping that somebody c...
(to be clear, I know I can just check knot-strengths for a general end-of-line attachment, it's the inclusion of the steel thimble - I'll find a link to add to end of post - it's that inclusion tha...
I've been looking into making an oilcloth tarp. All the sources I have read so far seem to consider linseed oil the only oil to use, and I'm wondering why that is. So, what, if anything, is it abo...
How do people deal with sweating and 'feeling hot' at high altitude climbs (above 5500m)?? Just a background on myself: I've done hikes/climbs up to 3000m where temps hit at the lowest of around ...
